Eros and Logos
by Heretic.Priest
Summary: During shore leave, Amanda's niece comes to meet and visit her cousin until he has to get back to duty. A story of two cousins from different worlds united by mutual grief, who become best friends and embark on a journey together. BonesxOC later on.


**Eros and Logos: The Ins and Outs of Having a Vulcan for a Cousin**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, but I do own Terra._

_(This work of fiction ignores the last few minutes of the movie, replacing it with a two month shore leave before take off.)_

To say that her aunt Amanda had been like a mother to Terra would be an understatement. Whenever Terra needed her, Amanda was there. Whenever Terra was sad or lonely, angry or scared, she could call her beloved aunt and near-instantly feel better. Even though Terra hold only met her aunt once, when she had been given time to go home to visit family, they'd still been amazingly close. They spoke via daily e-mails and weekly video messages and Amanda Grayson was more of a mother to her than Doris Grayson ever had been.

Not that Doris had been a horrid person or anything of the sort. It's just that Doris had always been more like a caretaker than a mother. They had no connection, they barely spoke, and they never agreed on anything. It had been hard a lot of the time, going to her friend's houses and seeing their relationships with their mothers, then thinking back on her own. Amanda filled in where Doris could not, and in itself, Terra had an easy enough childhood. She was close to her father, at least, whom she adored more than anything else in the world.

Still was, in fact, even after deserting the family to go to school and get what she wanted. After medical school AND her four years at Starfleet, Terra decided to stay on Earth. Sure, she'd be better served aboard a ship, but she just… didn't really like flying. At all.

She found it sort of odd that she was having this thought whilst on a ship, on it's way to New Vulcan. The planet Vulcan had been destroyed by an angry future-Romulan named Nero, and they'd had to colonize on a new planet. Her aunt had married the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek, and had a child together named Spock. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Sarek had been on the planet Vulcan while Nero was trying to destroy it, and while Spock had gotten Sarek out alive, auntie Amanda had died.

The Vulcan elders had established a colony on a new planet, which they named New Vulcan, and that was where her cousin was residing while on shore leave. She'd felt the need, after losing Amanda, to reach out to Spock. She didn't know exactly why, she just felt something inside of her telling her it was the right thing to do. They'd never spoken before, and she barely knew a thing about him, other than what he looked like and how old he was. She was twenty-seven, a year younger than him, though she had been told by Amanda that he acted beyond his years, like all Vulcans.

Auntie Amanda had sent her pictures at random, and Terra had sent them in return, so she expected Spock would recognize her when he picked her up from the recently built transport pad. Hopefully, at least. Terra had been sure to give them ample warning of when she was coming, after getting permission from Sarek. Thankfully, her uncle understood her relationship with his wife, and seemed to understand her need to visit them. To connect with the cousin she'd never known.

Spock had seemed a bit more confused when his father had confronted him about the topic, explaining that his cousin would be visiting them for the rest of his shore leave. But, Sarek had later told her, he seemed excited. Or as excited as Spock could get. Due to the fact that their home, like almost all other homes on New Vulcan, was still in construction, they had little space to spare. Acknowledging this fact, Spock had put an extra bed in his room, moved his things to one side of the nighttable to give her space, and cleared out one half of his closet.

She'd sent Spock an email saying thank you, after he told her what he'd done, and promised she wouldn't mess up his room or take up too much space. Spock had waved off her concern, like he always seemed to, and confirmed that he'd be there to pick her up at 0900 hours.

_The Helion will be docking in ten minutes, and transport to New Vulcan will begin immediately. Please have all of your luggage ready._

The Helion was a ship that Starfleet had set up to take passengers to and from New Vulcan, picking up Vulcans who may have been off planet, or people who wanted to help with the building of New Vulcan cities. It hadn't been hard to get passage aboard the ship, thank god.

_I'll arrive at about 0900 hours, then. Good, I won't keep him waiting long._ Terra though to herself as she hefted her duffel bag and walked down the hall to the transporter room, converging with a group of the other passengers. Once they'd docked, the transport technician asked the first wave of people to step on, then transported them down. Terra and a few others went next, and as soon as she landed, she spotted Spock waiting for her. His hands were locked behind his back, and he looked stoic, though she could see him stretching his neck every few moments to see if she was there.

Terra smiled fondly to herself, stepping out of the crowd and quickly, self-consciously brushed her hair out with her fingers. Her hair fell just past her shoulders, the colour of wheat braided with gold. She was a complete contrast to her cousin. Whereas he had dark hair, dark eyes and light skin, she had light hair, light eyes and though she was quite pale, it was clear she'd gotten a bit of sun. That fact was accentuated when she ran up to Spock, sliding her arms around him. He stiffened, looking awkward for a moment despite being fully aware that she was planning on doing this. She'd warned him quite a few times.

He excused being startled by claiming that he hadn't been prepared for her to come out of nowhere. Truthfully, something deep inside told him he might've wanted the hug. Regardless, he returned the hug for a quick second, then gently pushed her away. "Terra."

"Spock." She replied, a big grin on her face. "It's nice to finally meet you." She murmured, following him as he began to walk back towards his home. "So, how much longer is your shoreleave?"

"One month, two days, four hours, six minutes and 22 seconds." Spock replied, glancing over at her. Terra grinned brightly in response; amused that aunt Amanda had been right about his unusual speech patterns. She knew that it was just how all Vulcans spoke, but still, it was new and interesting to her. "So, do you miss your ship? The Enterprise, right?"

"I do not feel any longing to be back aboard the Enterprise. I would like to get back to work, however." Spock replied, then tilted his head. "You chose not to be put to service upon a ship. Why?"

"I'm scared of flying." Terra replied, the apples of her cheeks tinged with red. Spock gave her a curious look, and Terra quirked a brow in response.

"What?"

"I apologize, it is nothing. Only, I have heard that phrase before, and it reminded me of the Enterprise." Spock replied, stopping outside of his home. Construction workers surrounded the house, working tirelessly, and Terra could see Sarek overseeing them from the front entrance, awaiting them.

"Sarek!" She called, stepping carefully towards him, avoiding rubble and tools. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It is good that you have arrived safely. I understand you have a fear of flying?" Sarek smiled, though it was small. Aunt Amanda had explained that Sarek was a bit more open than other Vulcans, and not to expect the same treatment from anyone else should she choose to visit them at any point.

"Yeah, but the trip was okay. I bore through it." Terra murmured, smiling and stepping inside after her uncle. Spock followed her inside, speaking up with the slightest tinge of excitement in his voice. "Let me show you your room." He headed towards a door down the hall to the left and opened it, revealing their room.

"Thanks, Spock." She murmured, smiling and heading inside, dropping her duffel bag on the bed to the left. He nodded and stepped into the room when she plopped down on her bed, quirking a brow. "You are going to bed at this hour?"

"No, I'm just relaxing, Spock." Terra replied, shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Your mom used to tell me about how you'd spend hours meditating when you wanted to relax. I tried doing it once, but I got antsy after about ten minutes and stopped."

"You are not used to it, so your body fights the act. Should you practice, you will find it a lot easier." Spock murmured, sitting on the edge of his bed. "I will be meditating before bed. You can join me, if you'd like?"

"Sure, I'll try it out." Terra quirked her lips and sat up, crossing her legs. "So, what did you think when I contacted you about coming to visit?"

"I admit, I was rather curious as to why you wanted to get in contact when we've never met before, but your logic was sound. It **is** nice to meet some of Mother's family." Spock dropped his gaze, thinking, before looking back up at her. "It will be very different here. You understand that, correct?"

"Yes, Spock, I understand. I'm sure everything will be fine." Terra laid back once more, then tilted her head to look at him. "So, what was it like on the Enterprise?"

"It was… interesting. You've heard the stories, correct?"

"Yeah. You're only off on shore leave because the Enterprise got nearly destroyed while fighting Nero. They estimated a two month completion date, due to other projects coming at the forefront of Starfleet needs, so you went to New Vulcan with the others. Tell me about the crew?" Terra requested hopefully.

"Correct. The crew… I only interacted with a few of the crewmen; Uhura, Chekov, Sulu –the pilot,- Doctor McCoy and Jim Kirk."

"Doctor McCoy… I've heard of him. Real tyrant, right?"

"He has a temper." Spock replied, and Terra grinned. "You are a doctor as well, correct?"

"Yeah. I specialize in critical care and xenobiology." Terra explained, "What was Jim like?"

"Charismatic. Everyone seemed to listen to him –to want to listen to him- no matter what he was saying. I think he was born to be a Captain." Spock replied, eying Terra's coy smile. "Is something the matter?"

"What did you REALLY think of him?"

"He was blatantly reckless, foolish, selfish, overbearing and overwhelming." Spock replied in a snap, causing Terra to all-out grin.

"And so the truth comes out. Well, atleast he has his charisma to make up for all that other stuff." Terra murmured. "So, what do you eat around here? I'm getting pretty hungry."

"We have a replicator. You can eat whatever you deem necessary." Spock replied, standing and folding his hands behind his back.

"Lead the way." Terra hummed, following him down into the kitchen.

_Well, what did you think? _

_Reviews are always welcome (and sometimes needed, for inspiration to continue)_


End file.
